2. Multiply by the number of biological parents you have, regardless of whether or not you have any information on them. (Everyone should have the same answer here. 2.)

3. Add the decimal number next to your paternal grandmother on your ahnentafel chart. (Once again, everyone should have the same number. 5.)

4. To honor the year the Roman Emperor, Claudius, adopted Nero -- Multiply it by 50

5. To honor the marriage of George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis, add 1759. [Genealogical note: George Washington may be considered by many Americans as "Father" of the nation, but he had no children, so he has no biological descendants.]

6. If you haven't had your birthday yet this year, subtract 1.

7. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number

The first digit of this is the number of great grandparents you have all that information on!

The next two numbers are:

YOUR AGE

Don't deny it!

Note: This will not work if you are at least 100 years old. (But, congratulations!) This will also have to be tweaked, just a little, in future years. Only one step will have to be changed, though. I'll leave it up to you to figure out which one.

Yes, Tamura, but the result for (100*gp+age) isn't surprising to anyone. The result for (100*gp+2009-by) is probably equally boring to most people.

That's why the math has to be made a little more complicated to confuse those who aren't mathematically inclined. They start to wonder what 1759 has to do with anything. In the realm of magic it is known as 'misdirection.'